Japan to let U.N. experts check damaged nuke site

The World - In Brief

July 23, 2007

TOKYO -- Japan will allow investigators from the U.N. nuclear watchdog to inspect a nuclear-power station damaged last week by a powerful earthquake in order to address international safety concerns, an official said today. The Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant -- the world's largest in terms of capacity -- suffered a long list of radioactive leaks and malfunctions during the July 16 magnitude-6.8 temblor, which killed 10 people and injured more than 1,000. On Thursday, International Atomic Energy Agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei offered to have his Vienna-based agency dispatch global experts to inspect the damage, but Japan rejected the offer, saying it could handle the safety check on its own.